In the coming months, the weather will undoubtedly improve. This will result in homeowners paying closer attention to their homes. A focus will most likely be placed on how their concrete driveways and garage fronts held up during the winter. The extreme temperatures observed during the month of February necessitated extreme measures by most municipalities to ensure the safety of their citizens. The road crews used liquid magnesium and calcium chloride to de-ice the streets when the temperatures dove below twenty degrees. The use of these chemicals will severely impact the durability of any concrete surface. In our test projects with these chemicals, they ate through the sealer applied in the fall and began to deteriorate the surface. Slabs not maintained well during this time will probably show some significant signs of delaminating caused by these chemicals.
	Examples of garage floor spalling as a result of salt damage
The Metropolitan Builders Association Industry Standard pertaining to damage resulting from salt is a measure of what is acceptable for southeastern Wisconsin. The industry standard reads that the contractor is not responsible for deterioration caused by salt, chemicals, mechanical implements, or other factors beyond the contractor’s control. Therefore, if the homeowner would like to attempt a repair themselves they can patch the areas with concrete fillers found at Lowes or Home Depot and then re-seal the area. Posted: 2.26.07